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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to China next month to participate in the foreign ministers meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), ahead of its summit that is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June.

Swaraj’s visit also comes in the backdrop of efforts being made by India and China to move forward after last year’s military stand-off in Doklam, which still remains an area of monitoring and strategic significance for New Delhi amidst China building infrastructure for its troops there.

According to officials, Swaraj is scheduled to travel to Japan on a bilateral visit from March 28, and will also undertake a trip to the US to participate in the strategic dialogue in the ‘2+2′ format (foreign and defence consultations) in Washington on April 18.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also scheduled to travel to the US for the dialogue.

“The external affairs minister will be travelling to China to attend the SCO foreign ministers’ scheduled for April 23-24,” a senior official said.

India, which had been an ‘observer’ in the Eurasian grouping since 2005, was made full member last year along with Pakistan.

During her China visit, Swaraj is also expected to hold bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the summit.

The two leaders had held a bilateral in December here on the sidelines of the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral.

The minister is also likely to hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from other SCO countries on the sidelines of the meeting but it was not clear whether she will have any bilateral interaction with her Pakistani counterpart.